November 2024
Explore & Learn
DBVW Architects was honored to work with two local institutions that help bring animal education to life on two recent projects – Save The Bay's Hamilton Family Aquarium and New England Institute of Technology's Veterinary Technology Program!
Save The Bay's Hamilton Family Aquarium, Newport, RI
For many years, Save The Bay operated a small aquarium at Easton’s Beach in Newport, RI. Unfortunately, the site had many challenges related to sea level rise and frequent, severe storms. This prompted Save The Bay to relocate its aquarium to a more central location in Newport, a move which also allows more flexibility to develop resilient strategies at Easton's Beach. (DBVW is also working with the City of Newport on a resiliency plan for Easton’s Beach.)
By moving the aquarium to an intermodal transportation hub at the Gateway Center in Newport, Save the Bay has created an exciting new downtown amenity and made the aquarium easily accessible to more people, including families and school children.
The “gateway” location for Save The Bay’s new aquarium replaces an inactive information center to create a hub of activity in an underutilized, city-owned property. As stated by former Newport Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong at the aquarium’s opening, this may be the first aquarium located at an intermodal hub with the convergence of a bus hub, a bikeway, a ferry landing, a cruise ship port, a major vehicular artery, and a very walkable neighborhood.
By removing dropped ceilings and exposing ductwork and other infrastructure, the design of the aquarium transformed a windowless, one-story space into a vibrant, multi-level, place of learning with many different activity areas. From a fish tank built into a wall between two spaces to a kids’ area with a display screen built into the floor, the new facility has something for everyone. The main exhibit areas include 12 display tanks, holding over 10,000 gallons of water, offering educational and interactive experiences for nature-lovers of all ages. Even the bathrooms feature outsized, custom images of sea creatures rendered on ceramic tiles!
New England Institute Of Technology's Veterinary Technology Program, East Greenwich, RI
DBVW recently designed new teaching labs at the New England Institute of Technology to serve as a hands-on learning environment for the students of veterinary medicine. The 11,000 square foot facility is housed inside the third floor of the technical college’s main academic building on campus and is outfitted with state-of-the-art medical equipment. It includes nursing laboratories, surgical suites, dental laboratories, a radiology lab, computer labs, and classrooms for students to practice and learn in a real-world setting for veterinary medicine.
